November 18, 2012

What does it change? Well, you can count Kansas State out. They did the most Kansas State thing ever. Baylor came into the game 4-5, were dead last in the nation in total defense and were 118th in scoring defense. No way they could stop Optimus Klein. No way they could outscore K-State's offense. Yet, they did both and won 52-24.

Meanwhile in Oregon, Stanford figured out Chip Kelly's offense and 'held' Oregon to 405 yards and 14 points to pull off the upset in overtime. While that in itself was a huge deal because no one had held Oregon under 530 yards and 42 points, the bigger deal is what it does to the Pac-12 title game. Stanford and Oregon both have one loss. Barring an upset loss to UCLA next week, Stanford will represent the Pac-12 North and face the Bruins in back to back weeks in the Pac-12 Championship game. If it is Stanford, that game will be in Palo Alto.

You can count Kansas State out. Period. No way they'll get into the National Championship talk over either one loss SEC Champion (presuming Alabama wins next week against Auburn). Florida has a better chance, presuming they win over FSU, than Kansas State after their loss to a .500 team.

As for Oregon, they present a more unique situation, especially if Stanford wins big over UCLA twice. An OT loss at home to a conference rival that is highly ranked looks better than a 28 point drubbing on the road or a 5 point loss at home to a conference newcomer. I guess it all depends on how the computers play it out, but to me this is situation is a direct descendant of the 2007 Georgia situation. It'd be quite a stretch to see them jump a one loss SEC champion at the end of the season.

So, Georgia just needs to ignore that stuff. Let the media, bloggers, and fans worry about scenarios. Take care of Georgia Tech next week. Go to Atlanta and focus on winning there.

We've been saying for years that 'had things been different in 200X,' Georgia might have had a shot at playing for the Championship. Well, last night, things got different.